2017 Land Rover Discovery Hits Happy Middle of Luxury SUVs

We were teased with the front grille, and now we have the full unveiling of the 2017 Land Rover Discovery. It touts a passenger capacity of seven, but the two people in the back either drew the short straw or will quickly realize you don’t like them as much.

Land Rover is billing it as the most versatile Land Rover yet, and the MSRP comes just under $50,000 by $10 – the base MSRP is $49,990. Good luck finding one at that price, but it makes for a great marketing piece of being a sub-$50,000 Land Rover.

It can’t be an unveiling without a video showing you the things you won’t be doing if you buy one.

Yeah, dropping $50,000 on an SUV and the first thing I’m doing is finding a creek to plow through. Not happening, but damn if Land Rover doesn’t make it look cool.

2017 Land Rover Discovery Specs

It’s the replacement to the LR4 and has upgraded all the technology. It has an app to control the seats. You can’t be bothered to do that from the console. You have a Costco run to make.

The versatile seat design lets you configure the layout right from your smartphone for both the second and third-row seats. Go ahead and drop the third if you want some extra room in the back. There are options to configure the seating arrangements from 2 to 7 seats. Each one you drop earns more cargo room. A six-seat configuration gives you 24 cu. Ft. of space, while dropping all but the front seats pushes it to 77 cu. Ft.

Keeping inside, the Land Rover Discovery has all the trappings you’d expect. Premium leather finished with twin needle stitching. Your choice between wood or metal accents. The brushed aluminum center console is slick.

The 10-inch HD touchscreen is your control hub or the Land Rover Incontrol Touch Pro. The display handles everything from connected navigation, tracks the SUV if it’s stolen and handles the audio.

Land Rover developed three audio packages – a 10-speaker Land Rover system. And two systems developed in partnership with Meridian. A 380W 10-speaker system or an 825W surround system with 16 speakers. Yeah, if you’re spending the cash, may as well blast your Spotify playlist.

Land Rover Discovery Performance

It comes standard with a 3.0L V-6 8-speed automatic. The engine puts out 340 horsepower and has a towing capacity of up to 8,200 pounds.

For those wanting to find a shallow river to plow through, the wading depth is rated at 33.4 inches. It’s approach angle tops out at 23.6 degrees with a departure angle maxing at 25 degrees.

Not taking it off road? It handles the daily driver duty as well as you’d expect from a Land Rover. An electronic air suspension keeps you comfortable no matter the terrain. Judging by some U.S. interstates, they are more brutal than trails.

On the road, the 2017 Land Rover Discovery makes life easier with an Electronic Power Assisted Steering and its Corner Brake Control keeps things stable by modulating the pressure the driver applies to the brakes.

Other driver assists come from adaptive cruise control, autonomous braking to hopefully remind you to quit looking at your phone and lane assist for those drifting river out there. Straight line people.

A nice interior touch is the heads up display showing gear selection, speed, and navigational cues. Can’t parallel park? I feel your pain. The Land Rover Park Assist will help you into tight spaces when paired with the 360-degree camera view. Perfect for those times when other people suddenly forget how to park.

Land Rover Wearable?

Jony Ive will be disappointed, but Land Rover has the Activity Key. Leave your key fob in the car when swimming or other outdoor activities. It will lock and unlock the Discovery. It’s a nice touch, but a bit absurd considering you’re already wearing a fitness tracker. Get an SDK out and allow the popular trackers to integrate the tech.

Build a 2017 Land Rover Discovery

A favorite pastime of everyone. Building your dream SUV. And the $49,990 base MSRP just isn’t happening. Let’s kick off with the HSE Luxury model which starts at $63,950 and includes everything from the HSE model and:

Now it’s time for some options. Badass contrast sunroof with power front sunroof and a fixed rear sunroof for $650. A metallic Corris Grey exterior color adds another $695.

All the driver assist packages add on quite a bit, but if you’re going to tout technology, you may as well have it. With all the configured options, the total hits just over $79,170. You can get it under $50K, but for the technology options? It will be north of $60,000.